Psalms 44:9

_BUT THOU HAST CAST OFF, AND PUT US TO SHAME; AND GOEST NOT FORTH WITH OUR ARMIES._ But - literally, 'Also' х_ 'AP_ (H637)]: there is some such ellipsis as this-We are "all the day long" (Psalms 44:8) expecting deliverance; but not only hast thou not delivered us, but 'ALSO thou hast cast us off.' AND GOEST NOT FORTH WITH OUR ARMIES. Contrast 2 Samuel 5:24, where the Lord gives a response to David on the latter consulting the divine oracle, "The Lord shall go out before thee, to smite the host of the Philistines....

9._Nevertheless thou hast abhorred us _Here follows a complaint, in which they bewail their present miseries and extreme calamity. There is here described such a change as showed not only that God had ceased to exercise towards them his accustomed favor, but also, that he was openly adverse and hostile to his people. First, they complain that they have been rejected as through hatred, for such is the proper import of the word זנחת,_zanachta, _which, along with others, I have translated _abhorred _If, however, any would rather translate it _to forget, _or _to be cast off_, I have no great objection to it. They next add, that they had been _put to shame, _namely, because it must necessarily follow that every thing should go ill with them when deprived of the protection of God. This they declare immediately after, when they say, that God _no longer goes forth with their armies _— go

9-16 The believer must have times of temptation, affliction, and discouragement; the church must have seasons of persecution. At such times the people of God will be ready to fear that he has cast them off, and that his name and truth will be dishonoured. But they should look above the instruments of their trouble, to God, well knowing that their worst enemies have no power against them, but what is permitted from above....

Verse Psalms 44:9. _BUT THOU HAST CAST OFF_] Our enemies have dominion over us. _AND GOEST NOT FORTH WITH OUR ARMIES._] Were we to attempt to muster our several tribes, and form a _host_, like our fathers when they came out of Egypt, thou wouldst not accompany us as thou didst them: the horses and chariots of the Babylonians would soon overtake and destroy us....

BUT THOU HAST CAST OFF - The author of the psalm now commences a description of the existing circumstances of the nation, so strongly in contrast with what had existed in former times when God interposed in their behalf, and when he gave them success. This is properly the commencement of the second part of the psalm, and the description is continued to Psalms 44:16. The Hebrew word here rendered “hast cast off” implies disgust and abhorrence, as the casting away of that which is loathsome. See the word explained in the notes at Psalms 43:2. The reference is to what had occurred at the time when the psalm was written. See introduction to this psalm. The allusion is to the invasion of the land by foreigners; their own discomfiture in their wars; and the calamities consequent on thes

EXPOSITION THE date and occasion of this psalm are greatly disputed. Most critics, from Calvin to Hitzig, refer it to the times of the Maccabees. Others suggest the fourth or fifth century B.C. One (Tholuck) dates it in the reign of Jehoiachin. Hengstenberg and Canon Cook argue for the reign of David. The time of Jehoram (2 Chronicles 21:16, 2 Chronicles 21:17) and that of the defeat of Josiah (2 Chronicles 35:20-14) have also been proposed as possible. The Davidic date receives a certain amount of support from Psalms 60:1; which is in the same ton

BUT THOU HAST CAST OFF,.... This, with what follows to Psalms 44:17, describe the desolate and afflicted state of the church, under the Gospel dispensation, in some parts and ages of it; and in the light in which it was viewed by the church, previous to the encouragement she took from the consideration of favours and benefits formerly bestowed, and of her covenant interest in God, related in the preceding verses. She looked upon herself as cast off, because afflicted and persecuted, and the Lord did not arise to her immediate help and deliverance; this may regard the ten persecutions under Rome Pagan; Psalms 43:2; AND PUT US TO SHAME; before men, at the taking of the ark, as Arama; rather for their faith in God, and boasting of him, when he did not appear for them, but suffered

Psalms 44 The Increased Cry for Deliverance _ 1. My King, O God! Command deliverances (Psalms 44:1)_ 2. Trouble upon trouble and confusion (Psalms 44:9) 3. Awake! Arise for our help! (Psalms 44:22) The third Maschil Psalm. They remember the days of old, what God did for His covenant people in the past, how He gave them the land with an outstretched arm and delivered them from their enemies. They own Him as King and call on Him to command deliverances for Jacob. Then they utter their complaint and describe the great troubles and calamities they are facing; they are spoiled, like sheep appointed for meat, scat

XLIV. A NATIONAL PRAYER IN UNMERITED DISTRESS. The Ps. evidently depicts the situation of Israel under Antiochus Epiphanes [but see OTJC 2, pp. 207f., 437- 440. A. S. P.] So much was plain long ago to the Antiochene Fathers and at a later date to Calvin. Antiochus promulgated a decree enforcing unity of worship in his dominions and especially in Palestine. He also polluted the Temple at Jerusalem by heathen sacrifice. He encountered fierce opposition from the Asidæ ans (= Hasidim), led by the Maccabees, and died in 164 B.C. without effecting his purpose (p. 607). This Ps. was written when the cause of the faithful Jews was under a temporary cloud. The following are the chief points which enable us to place it with confidence in Maccabean times. (_a_) The Jews have an army of their own, and therefore enjoy some measure of independent government, but at the same time many of their brethren...

BUT. But now. Hebrew. _'aph_ (not _ki,_ as in Psalms 44:3 and Psalms 44:7). Very emphatic, marking great contrast, as in Psalms 68:16 ("Yea"). Some codices, with Aramaean, read "Howbeit". CAST OFF (as with contempt). Compare Psalms 43:2. Some codices, with Syriac, read "cast us off"....